Graded raise for domestic players, 14 T20Is at home
MUMBAI: Indian domestic cricketers who don’t have IPL contracts—there are roughly 700— will now take home a greater share of match fees. This was one of the decisions green-lit by BCCI at their Apex Council meeting on Monday, where they introduced a graded pay-hike for players and announced a muchdelayed compensation package for the domestic season cancelled by the pandemic.
In the virtual meet, BCCI raised the per-day fees from Rs 35,000 paid to all cricketers to Rs 40,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000 based on seniority. A male cricketer who has played more than 40 matches will fall in the top bracket. The senior-most players whose teams qualify for the knockouts will be the biggest beneficiaries. For example, a senior like Aditya Tare can take home around Rs 25 lakh for the season—up from Rs 15-16 lakh— if Mumbai qualify for the finals of all domestic tournaments— Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare and Mushtaq Ali. A newcomer from a Plate division side whose team exits in the early rounds will get around Rs 11 lakh per year. “The increase of match fee for our domestic cricketers will ensure that professional cricketers can solely focus on playing cricket and are appropriately rewarded,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said.
This also brings the highest paid domestic player a notch above the lowest paid IPL cricketer (base contract for IPL is Rs 20 lakh), a symbolic statement, if nothing else. The revised matchfees also address the pay-deficit due to the change in format-minimum matches/tournament have been reduced from 8 to 5.
WOMEN’S FEES RAISED
Match fees of women players have been revised from Rs 12,500 to Rs 20,000 per day. A compensation package for players who lost out due to cancellation of Ranji Trophy and women’s T20 last year was also announced. Players will get 50% match fees (for the cancelled 2019-20 season). There was no word on compensation for other participants--umpires, scorers, analysts--who lost out on earnings.
With this pay hike, the idea of awarding annual retainership to players has been shelved, citing practical difficulties in implementing across 38 state sides.
14 T20Is AT HOME
India will be on a heavy dose of T20 action with 14 matches at home between November 2021 and June 2022. The international home season will see New Zealand tour followed by West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
The NZ tour starting November 17 will mark the resumption of big-ticket cricket at home after IPL was suspended in April due to the pandemic. For now, cricket will continue to be played in bio-bubbles.